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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/ytabeloved/ordervista/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The Ordervista backend is a Node.js/Express application deployed to Render as a Web Service. Render builds and runs the service directly from the backend/ subdirectory of the GitHub repository, injecting all secrets as environment variables at runtime. The server exposes a /api/health endpoint you can use to confirm a successful deployment before opening the frontend.

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Render Web Service Settings

When creating a new Render Web Service, apply the following configuration in the Render dashboard:
SettingValue
Root Directorybackend
Build Commandnpm install
Start Commandnpm start
Render will clone the repository, change into the backend/ directory, run npm install to install dependencies, and then start the server with npm start on every deployment.

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Required Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables in the Render dashboard under Environment → Environment Variables. Never add these values to a committed .env file. 
PORT=3000
DB_HOST=<aiven-host>
DB_PORT=<aiven-port>
DB_USER=<aiven-user>
DB_PASSWORD=<aiven-password>
DB_NAME=defaultdb
DB_SSL=true
DB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false
JWT_SECRET=<strong-random-secret>
FRONTEND_URL=<vercel-frontend-url>
Replace each <placeholder> with the real value from your Aiven and Vercel dashboards. Use a long, randomly generated string for JWT_SECRET — at least 32 characters is recommended.

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Health Check

After a successful deployment, verify the service is running by calling the health endpoint: 
GET https://ordervista-backend.onrender.com/api/health
Expected response: 
{
  "status": "ok",
  "message": "OrderVista API running"
}
A 200 OK response with this body confirms that the Express server started correctly and connected to the database.

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CORS Configuration

The FRONTEND_URL environment variable is used directly in server.js to build the list of allowed CORS origins. The server permits requests from http://localhost:5173 (local development) and the value of FRONTEND_URL at runtime. Set FRONTEND_URL to the exact URL Vercel assigned to your frontend — including the https:// scheme and without a trailing slash — for example https://ordervista.vercel.app. Any mismatch will cause the browser to block API requests with a CORS error.

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Deployment Steps

1

Create a new Web Service on Render

In the Render dashboard, click New → Web Service and connect the ordervista GitHub repository. If the repository is private, authorise Render to access it through the GitHub integration settings.
2

Configure the service settings

Set Root Directory to backend, Build Command to npm install, and Start Command to npm start. Choose the Free instance type for development or a paid tier for production workloads.
3

Add all environment variables

Navigate to the Environment tab and add every variable listed in the section above. Double-check DB_SSL=true, FRONTEND_URL, and JWT_SECRET before saving — these are the most common sources of deployment failures.
4

Deploy and verify

Click Create Web Service. Render will build and start the service. Once the deploy log shows the server is listening, call GET /api/health to confirm everything is working correctly.
Ordervista uses Render’s free tier, which automatically spins down Web Services after 15 minutes of inactivity. The first request after a cold start may take 30–60 seconds while the container wakes up. This is expected behaviour on the free plan. If consistent response times are required, consider upgrading to a paid Render instance or using an external uptime monitor to send periodic pings to /api/health.

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